Method of securing caps or ferrules to bottles and other suitable containers



Apnl 7, 1964 F. FOX 3,127,719

METHOD OF SECURING .CAPS OR F ERRULES T0 BOTTLES AND OTHER SUITABLE CONTAINERS Filed Sept- 25, 1959 H NKIFQ H 7- 7-0 EPA .5 Y:-

United States Patent 3,127,719 METHOD OF SECURING CAPS OR FERRULES TO BOTTLES AND OTHER SUITABLE CONTAINERS Frank Fox, Beechwood House, Beechwood Road, Illingworth, Halifax, England Filed Sept. 25, 1959, Ser. No. 842,469 Claims priority, application Great Britain Feb. 25, 1959 1 Claim. (CI. 53-42) The invention relates to a method of and means for securing caps or ferrules to bottles and other suitable containers.

An ideal method of securing caps or ferrules is one which enables caps to be initially sealed or locked to bottles or containersto prevent illicit tamperin With the contents of the latter-but permits the caps to be used again following displacement or rupture of the seal, and also avoids retention upon containers of any part of caps or ferrules which may be difficult to remove should containers be required for further use, or which produce sharp edges apt to injure a user.

According to the invention the method of and means for securing a cap or ferrule to a bottle or other suitable container utilises a bottle or the like provided with a peripheral groove or channel into engagement with which groove is or are caused to engage an asially arranged tag or lug or tags or lugs formed in the skirt of the cap or ferrule, whereby upon initial displacement of the cap relative to the bottle the tag(s) is or are distorted or broken--without affecting subsequent replacement of the cap.

In order that the invention may be fully and clearly comprehended the same will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of the upper end or mouth of a bottle furnished with a cap or ferrule-shown in section-according to the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-section of part of FIGURE 1, illustrating how the seal is ruptured or broken when the cap is partly removed from or unscrewed upon the bottle neck.

FIGURE 4 is a partly sectional elevation of a bottle mouth furnished with a modified cap or ferrule according to the invention.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts in all the views.

Referring to FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, the outer surface of the bottle 1 has a peripheral groove 2 formed therein below the customary screw-threaded portion; the said groove is of saw-tooth shape in cross-section to provide a shoulder 3.

Associated with the aforesaid bottle is a substantially conventional dished cap or ferrule 4 preferably composed of ductile metal.

To secure and seal the cap 4 to the bottle 1, the cap is placed over the mouth of the bottle to close the same and to envelop the screw-threaded portion and the peripheral groove 2. The bottle-and-eap assembly is then subjected to treatment in appropriately designed apparatus which causes the skirt of the cap to co-act with or conform in shape to the screw-threaded portion. Simultaneously with or immediately following the thread formation on the cap the latter is engaged by a pair of diametrically opposite means which act to press and cut the skirt ice of the cap in a manner whereby two axially arranged tags or lugs 5 are formed which are bent or forced into the groove 2 and lie in engagement with the inclined side of the groove (see particularly FIGURE 1). The tags are not completely severed from the body of the cap but are merely cut round three sides so that the bottom end of the tag remains attached to the cap.

In this manner, and by the means aforesaid, the cap becomes sealed to the bottle and the latter is thereafter tamper-proof.

To remove the cap or ferrule 1 from the bottle the cap is unscrewed in the usual manner, whereupon the free or cut upper ends of the tags 5 engage with the shoulder 3 of the groove 2, which shoulder operates to bend or roll the tags inwardly (see FIGURE 3).

Further unscrewing of the cap results in the tags 5 being sheared olf against the outer edge of the groove. Failing shearing, the tags are rolled inwardly and forced a little outwardly. Eventually the cap becomes free of the bottle, but can be replaced or removed as often as desired, no damage having been caused to the screw-threaded part of the skirt.

Instead of the groove 2 of a container being designed to bend or roll a tag or tags inwardly as described, the groove may be shaped and adapted to bend or roll a tag or tags outward. The latter method is not. preferred because the outwardly projecting tags may be injurious to the hands of users.

If desired, the cap may be initially screwthreaded prior to use upon a bottle, the tags or lugs 5 being formed after positioning of the cap on a bottle.

Alternatively, the screw-thread may be dispensed with and the cap employed upon a correspondingly shaped bottle, illustrated at FIGURE 4. Or the cap may be modified for use with bottles having intermittent or multithreadcd necks.

It must be understood that more than two tags or lugs 5 may be formed upon the caps, if desired, or that in certain instances one tag may serve, and that whenever a bottle is initially opened the seal is obviously broken and cannot be restored.

Advantages accruing from bottles and caps or ferrules according to the invention are that little initial force is required when unscrewing the caps and furthermore, the tags may be formed on any part of the cap which registers with the groove, the latter being common to any number of tags.

I claim:

A method of forming and securing a tamper-proof and reusable metal screw cap to the mouth of :a container having screw threads at the neck thereof and a peripheral groove on the neck with an inclined upper side portion below the threads on said neck comprising the following steps; positioning .-a ductile, smoothly-surfaced cylindrical metal cap over the mouth of said container with the sides of said cap surrounding said threads and peripheral groove, pressing a part of the upper skirt portion of said cap inwardly into conforming engagement with the screw thread, substantially simultaneously therewith pressing and cutting at the bottom portion of the skirt of said cap inwardly into engagement with said peripheral groove to thereby form a tag integral with said cap and axially conforming to the inclined upper side of said peripheral groove, the tag of said cap being only partly severed from the body of said ductile cap, the severed edge of said tag References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Sharp Apr. 21, 1942 Mragnesen Jan. 18, 1944 Thomas Jan. 16, 1945 Osborne Oct. 22, 1946 Spender May 10, 1949 

